Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management technique for job information for a processed job.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) having a copy service that incorporates a scanner function and a printer function, a transmission/reception service for email or FAX, and a network print service is known. Such an MFP is provided with a report function (communication management report function) in which the results of implemented transmission/reception and printing are saved as job histories in the device and printed on paper. Particularly, a printout of the report of the transmission/reception service job histories using the communication management report function is called a communication management report. Confidential information such as the job execution date/time, transmission/reception result, and address of the transmission destination is printed on the communication management report. Generally, the communication management report can be printed by an “automatic communication management report function” as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2010-130509 and 2003-78678.
The “automatic communication management report function” is a function in which a communication management report is automatically discharged to a tray when job histories not yet printed as a report have accumulated to a certain count. For example, the function can determine whether a predetermined number (for example, 100) of job histories unprinted as a communication management report has accumulated. If the job histories have accumulated, these unprinted job histories are printed as a report using the communication management report function and discharged to the tray.
The user of an MFP is largely classified into a general user and an administrator. The “automatic communication management report function” is a function intended for the administrator, and the administrator determines whether to make this function valid. The administrator checks if the communication management report has been discharged to the tray and manages the collected communication management report by filing the report. The communication management report is output chronologically and sequentially in segments in predetermined numbers. Accordingly, the administrator can organize the job histories to grasp and manage matters such as the occurrence of a communication error, disappearance of a job, and the like.
Further, as indicated in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-20223, a “My job history function” is a function for picking up and displaying only job histories that match the user name of a login user. By not displaying the job histories of other login users, the job histories of the login user can be checked intensively. Additionally, since each job history includes confidential information, it is suitable as an operation to prevent the login user from grasping the job execution date/time, transmission/reception result, and transmission destination address of jobs executed by other login users.
The My job history function is a function intended for a general user. When the login user is the administrator, the job histories of all login users are displayed even if the My job history function is valid. This is because there are times when the administrator will conduct a check targeting all job histories for an omission in a job executed by a user, a job that ended with an “NG”, when a job was completed, or the like.
The job history holds an attribute called “print completion flag”. The print completion flag changes from an unprinted state to a printed state when a job history is printed by the communication management report function.
The “automatic communication management report function” is a function that automatically prints, by using the communication management report function, job histories not yet printed as a report when the job histories accumulate in a predetermined number. The determination whether the job histories have accumulated in a predetermined number is performed by determining whether a predetermined number of job histories having print completion flags indicating the “unprinted” state has accumulated. When the predetermined number of job histories with print completion flags indicating the “unprinted” state accumulates, only the job histories with the print completion flags indicating the “unprinted” state are printed.
A general user can display, in the case of the My job history function, only the job histories that match the user name of that general user and manually print a report using the communication management report function by pressing a print button. When the general user manually prints a report, the print completion flag for the job history changes to the “printed” state. Because of this, the job histories that have been printed as a report will not be handled by the “automatic communication management report function”, and an omission will exist in the automatic communication management report.
The administrator cannot determine, even by obtaining the automatic communication management report with an omission, whether the omission occurred due to an abnormal situation such as a disappearance of a job or the omission was due to printing by a general user. If the administrator cannot manage all job histories, it can impede business operations. The “automatic communication management report function” needs to become capable of handling all job histories in the automatic communication management report.